The U.S. Air Force is planning to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II or which is more commonly known by its nicknames “Warthog” or “Hog”. But the bottom line is that the Air Force wants to retire the entire A-10 Warthog fleet so that it can take the experienced maintenance crews from those aircraft and convert them into maintenance crews for the F-35 Lightning II.

This is the second time in the past year that the Air Force has tried to retire the A-10 (the first attempt was on budgetary grounds), but they keep getting blocked by congress. If you’re unaware of the history of the A-10 Warthog, it might be the most useful and economical aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory right now and it has borne the brunt of the combat missions in the War on Terror. Despite this, the U.S. Air Force has been trying to retire the Warthog almost since it was built.

Despite objections from various sectors, it is very likely that the A-10 will be retired by the US Air Force, when that happens, a group of FilAm servicemen is proposing and requesting for the transfer of at least 12 operational A-10s plus another 12 reserve/parts source to the Philippine Air Force to show United States sincerity in helping its close ally in South East Asia.

What type of aircraft is an A-10 Warthog?

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American twin-engine, straight wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic in the early 1970s. It is the only United States Air Force production aircraft designed solely for close air support, including attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets with limited air defenses.

The A-10 was designed around the 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon that is its primary armament. The A-10’s airframe was designed for durability, with measures such as 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of titanium aircraft armour to protect the cockpit and aircraft systems, enabling it to absorb a significant amount of damage and continue flying. The A-10A single-seat variant was the only version built, though one A-10A was converted to an A-10B twin-seat version. In 2005, a program was begun to upgrade remaining A-10A aircraft to the A-10C configuration.

The A-10’s official name comes from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt of World War II, a fighter that was particularly effective at close air support. Its secondary mission is to provide airborne forward air control, directing other aircraft in attacks on ground targets.

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